Three Olympic and world champion swimmers have filed an antitrust suit in California challenging governing body FINA's control of organizing competitions.
The legal action by former USC swimmer Katinka Hosszu of Hungary and Americans Tom Shields and Michael Andrew follows Switzerland-based FINA’s shutdown of an independent meet in Italy with threats to ban competitors.
Lawyers in San Francisco say the swimmers “believe a professional league that will compensate its best athletes and better reward them for a lifetime's worth of hard training and sacrifice is long overdue.”
It's the latest challenge to Olympic sports bodies by athletes seeking greater prize money and a voice in running their sport.